avoid a potentiallythe 60 SPTAs have colleagueinfractions — or who are atassistance programs or morerisk of doing so — get the help difficult and embarrassinginformal services, according toACCA’s latest research.

To help SPTAs, ACCA

situation and helping thethey need rather than simplypunishing them. These largerprograms may also go beyondhas created several resourceson such topics as how to

apa.org and log in underGLEN A. MARTINNorth Carolina Psychological Association’scolleague assistance programfeeling that you have to do itall,” says Plante.

For colleagues who haveobserved unethical behavior,the upper right log in, thenselect PsycLINK. Or log on toMyAPA and click on the link at left.)

A colleague assistance program doesn’t have to be elaborate,says ACCA member Wendy A. Plante, PhD, a member ofthe Rhode Island Psychological Association’s new colleagueassistance committee.

“We’re a small state so one of the challenges is that there areonly so many resources to go around,” says Plante, a clinicalassociate professor of psychiatry and human behavior at BrownUniversity’s Alpert Medical School. “We’ve learned that you canstart a colleague assistance program on a really small scale andget a good response.”Established in 2011, Rhode Island’s program focuses onprevention and education, offering workshops on wellness andsimilar topics plus a consultation line. Psychologists can call forhelp if they have a problem or think someone else does, whetherit’s coping with the impact of personal illness on practice oraddressing such direct ethical concerns as practicing withinsays Plante, a colleagueassistance program can helpyou work through what to do.

“We try not to provide advice,” she says. “Our goal is just tobe educational.”Psychologists handling such calls might review APA’sEthics Code or relevant clinical issues with callers. They mightreview legal and risk management issues. They might suggestresources, such as expert consultation with a mental healthattorney, university or hospital ethics committee or treatmentresources for psychologists in need.

Confronting a colleague can be difficult, says ACCA member
Glen A. Martin, PhD, chair of the North Carolina Psychological
Association’s colleague assistance program. And graduate
programs typically explain psychologists’ obligations but not
the mechanics of confronting someone and dealing with the
aftermath.

“It’s a difficult thing to do, but important,” says Martin.“My advice is to try to look at it as a win/win situation:one’s competence or preventing boundary violations.

In larger states, says Plante, colleague assistance programsmay do much more. In addition to prevention-orientedworkshops and consultation lines, they may run diversionprograms that provide treatment so psychologists who have hadYou are helping a colleague avoid a potentially difficult andembarrassing situation and helping the profession maintain itsreputation.” n